The novel's title, through its allusion to the original escape from Egypt of the Jewish people, helps us to focus on the way in which this novel is about forging another escape route or way out of a situation of oppression and slavery. However, this time the situation is one of post-holocaust survival. The novel focuses on the way in which holocaust survivors have to try and find their way out of the memory of the experiences they have endured to live productive lives once again.

The characters of Karen and Dov therefore feature this theme of trying to find an escape or a way out of a terrible situation en route to the Promised Land. Karen determines to help Dov to overcome the alienation that he experiences and his intense isolation. However, in this novel, unfortunately no hard and fast answers or possibilities of hope are presented to us. Various characters find that they are unable to deal with the past of the Jewish people and cannot agree on the present plight of the Jews and what should be done. As a result, various characters suffer tragic ends, such as Karen's father who is driven into insanity over what has been done in the Holocaust. The struggle for independence, even after the Holocaust and the ravages of World War II, is still just as fierce as before.